Chivas USA 3 – RSL – 1

By: Alex | April 7th, 2008

Chivas USA defeat Real Salt Lake 3-1 in Saturday’s home opener.

The Chivas USA hosted 2005 expansion rivals in a thrilling 4 goal affair. The Red and White weathered the storm even though the were missing several starters, including captain Claudio Suarez and star strike Ante Razov.

Real Salt Lake assisted the Red and White by supplying two of the three goal scorers. Both Atiba Harris and Alecko Eskandarian played for RSL last year and each striker scored a goal in Saturday night’s game.

The Opposition.

Real Salt Lake stepped on the field with intent. The team has made some significant upgrades to the roster and coach Jason Kreis has made it clear that he plans on attending the playoffs this year. His team played with intensity and quite honestly outplayed the Red and White for portions of the match. The upgraded squad played with heart and intensity.

Some bright spots for their squad were Robby Findley, Nat Borchers and Dema Kovalenko. Findley burned through the back line several times. Borchers kept RSL in the match and Kovalenko proved to be worth his price.

The Chivas USA.

They say a great team wins even when they don’t play great. This may have been the case at the HDC. Out of action for the Red and White included Ante Razov (calf strain), Claudio Suarez (bereavement), Lawson Vaughn (hamstring), and Alex Zotinca (MCL). Players still not at 100% include Maykel Galindo (hernia), Alecko Eskandarian (groind), and Raphael Wicky (ankles). Some of the new players that made a debut for the team include Alecko Eskandarian, Chris Pozniac, and Eric Ebert.

Offense

Maykel did well, his best showing this season. The striker terrorized the RSL defense, taking defenders on and creating opportunities. The defense double teamed the Cuban, sometimes triple teaming him and he stilled peeked at goal. Atiba showed up as well. The target forward was marked tightly, and still found the back of the net in between two RSL defenders. Alecko came on the field for Maykel in the 77th minute. The new striker has been dealing with injuries to his groin. However he managed to walk the ball into the back of the net from a perfect pass delivered by Raphael Wicky.

Midfield

The midfield stepped up to the plate. Jesse Marsch captained the team in Claudio’s absence. Jesse was active and vocal, leading the team and running the midfield. Paulo Nagamura combined well with Marsch in the middle of the park. Kljestan managed to knock the ball in at the 32nd minute and worked his magic on the right. At the 69th minute, he moved to the middle of the park to make room for Wicky. Wicky’s touch and placement was spectacular. He seemed surprised at the physical level of play, but he was also nursing an injury. Mendoza had trouble connecting any passes, but made up for it with his defensive duties.

Defense

The defense was on. Everyone did well, Curtain lacked a little pace and Findley exploited it, but Shavar Thomas was there to clean up. Solid performance from Jonathan Bornstien. Chris Pozniak played calm and cool. I’m not sure he left a big footprint on the night. Eric Ebert came on for Chris late in the game and showed potential.

All in all a victory for the Chivas USA. The HDC had over 17,000 Chivas USA fans and two supporters groups making noise. The Home victory is hopefully just the first of many to come.